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Sanarissa Firewing
Sanarissa Firewing is a Sin'dorei Warlock serving under the Sunguard. A creature of many talents - practiced in the fel arts for many years, shadow-weaving for a shorter time, a longtime alchemist, a seasoned archaeologist, and a former diplomat - Lady Firewing is not one to act humbly, or speak little of her efforts as a self-made woman. She is the second-born daughter and youngest child of an illustrious family, the Dawnwinds, known for their political and magical influence in Quel'thalas - though splintered from them shortly after the Fall for personal reasons, making her own name and house. After a varied history, her talents are currently put to use as a Lightward Suncaster. Personality & Appearance A woman of cunning, wit, and biting charm - it is not hard to see how, socially, Sanarissa can be a polarizing figure. To most she presents as a brilliant, albeit sarcastic, figure - not always the easiest to approach but her banter and rapport more than make up for her barbs. Beyond that, she is effortlessly charming in that same sharp way - often flirtatious and coy, and knowing what a well-placed grin or flutter of her eyelashes will do. Even with Sanarissa’s public persona, it is easy to tell that there is a touch of melancholy inherent in the woman. While she is rarely public with this, it is not impossible to note that she is worn, perhaps even jaded and world-weary at times. Her penchant for imbibing as much wine as possible when it is within her grasp can also certainly be noted. Adjacent to her melancholy, and perhaps not unrelated, lies her temper. The felmancer is well-known for her short, quick temper - flaring at an instant and often to the detriment of herself and others. Nonetheless, there is a softness to her that remains something rather private - seen about close friends and her daughter. She will hardly admit to such. It is certainly not her stature that would cause most to give Sanarissa a second look. Overall, at first glance, she's not an inherently striking figure. She stands at roughly five foot and six inches, quite smaller than most of her kind, and her overall size is best described as petite or frail. She's more of a wisp, small and too thin. Her skin is quite pale, from spending too much time in her lab instead of outside, with dark freckles speckled across her face and down her neck, along with the rest of her frame. She would likely be counted a bit severe, if it was not for the rather pleasant shape of her sharp features, leaving her instead as some sort of distinct but lovely creature. The thing that stands out the most about the warlock is the thick ringlets of red curls that hang down her shoulders and over her back. It's often kept down and free, or otherwise bunched up into a bun if she is doing magical or alchemical work. Her eyes are an incredibly vibrant green, and seem to glow with an intense amount of fel - something that many only showed after the Sin'dorei first turned to fel. She often garbs herself in robes that cover most of her frame, deep purples and blacks in color. It is rare to see her with her arms uncovered - either by sleeves or gloves. An often seen accessory is a necklace on a gold chain; a purple amethyst stone encircled by woven gold. Beneath, her clothes is covered in a myriad of scars and markings. Starting from the sides of her face and arcing down her neck, then covering most of her upper body, are small, root-like scars from lightning attacks. As well, both arms are covered from nearly hand to shoulder in layers of burn scarring gained during her years of practicing such volatile magics. Down her back are deep, wide marks that look to be from the claws of a large saber. A last, large scar rests on the inside of her left forearm, though she often covers it with multiple layers of illusionary magic even under her clothes. The skin is raised in a harsh symbol, a healed brand in the shape of the Twilight's Hammer, though it seems to be flanked by more scars - as if an attempt was made to carve it off. Abilities & Skills Academically and magically brilliant above all, Sanarissa’s style of invoking fel magic is perhaps odd as compared to other warlocks - something more akin to a mage’s style, especially that linked with arcanum. No doubt this comes from the years of her training as a mage, taking magical theorum, spellcasting schemata, and other various practices and twisting it to suit her chaotic style of magic. With that in mind, her style of casting is usually more precise and targeted. She is far more useful against single targets for a prolonged period of time - and tends to fall short quickly against multiple targets. It is not uncommon to see her using focused beams of fel, targeted explosions, or burning a spell from someone before it can be cast. Wherever she goes, a swath of felfire soon basks - casting all in the eerie green glow. Fel is not the only magic that she finds specialty in, with an attunement to shadow magic that perhaps comes as a surprise given her preferred study. Having avoided the art for many years, it is only recently something that she has begun to focus on again. Typically, it is used for the purposes of destabilizing a target - using dark and shadow to confuse or disorient them - but on rare occasion the blistering green felfire is replaced by the overbearing, empty cold of shadowflame. Her skills in magic are not solely battle-oriented. With years of study in arcanum, she has a profound knowledge of the school despite her inability to use it. Magical theory, especially, is something she excels in. Her memory has proven to be a boon more than once in remembering some nugget of information from her schooling years ago. The same thought can be applied to her studies of history and languages, with the added benefit of years of working as a freelance archaeologist. Dabbling in alchemy since childhood also offers her a thorough knowledge of herbology. Something useful but perhaps not often thought of, Sanarissa is near meticulous in record keeping. Whether it be in the form of a grimoire, journals, or other documents, it is not uncommon for her to be able to find information stored in her own personal notes over a hundred or more years ago. History Daughter of the Reach Pride and prosperity; the words of House Dawnwind, a wealthy and well-respected house who stood amongst the social elite since the Founding, ruling over the fertile, abundant lands known as Dawn’s Reach. Sanarissa stood as the youngest daughter of her generation, to one of the firmest matriarchs the line had seen. In a family that held its excellence in arcane power precedent above all - even so far as to name their heirs by who held the strongest strength in the magic - she was held to the extreme standard of most Dawnwind women before her, to thrive under the pressure, compete with her other magically-inclined siblings, and rise to power. It would quickly become evident that Sanarissa was not as well-inclined to arcanum as her sister or mother; Nithroel a senior magistrix and widely respected for her work in enchanting, and Alarinna already making great strides in beginning a career by the time that her younger sister was born. Sanarissa’s grasp on the arcane schools of magic was flimsy - barely able to cast amatuer spells without a struggle. Even with forced study, private tutoring, and the often cruel push of her mother, she continued to falter. Eventually, the young woman would take up pyromancy as her first sustainable form of magic. Familial relationships within the Dawnwinds were dysfunctional at best. Nithroel often pitted her daughters against each other in an attempt to push them for further achievement. All it did was create a deep-seated animosity to both her mother and her sister by Sanarissa. To say that she was miserable in her time would have been an understatement. She was known for her rebellious nature amongst the nobility of Quel’thalas - from a young age having problems with overabundance of drinking, making a fool of herself publicly, arson, the occasional petty theft, and overall doing everything she could as a way to lash out for the way she was made to feel. Her first glimpse of a life that offered more was during the Second War. During an encounter with an Orcish warlock, Sanarissa was able to redirect a stolen fel spell back onto them - defeating them after an intense battle. The process of using such powerful, chaotic magic unused to it and unrestrained nearly killed her and left her with the first of her many scars along her arms; but it would lead the way into the next step of her life.